I really enjoy typefaces that wear there grids like badges of honor! Especially the faces that acknowledge geometric construction without being a slave to the rigid math of the system...

In the latest Student spotlight I had the great privileged of speaking to Larissa Lipp about her new display Typeface 'Ashleigh' which introduces dynamic sliced partitions to the archetypal letterforms.

‘Ashleigh' has 2 variants for each Uppercase letterform (one with more subtle angular cues and the other with more obvious geometric construction.) Why was building in this variety important to you?

Once I decided on the style of typeface I wanted to create, it was obvious that there are already a lot of similar typefaces out there so it was important for me and my tutor to not just make another typeface like that.During my research I discovered that all those typefaces have similar problems:

only a few letters have changed features, so that some words will not contain any special characters or

there are too many different elements, which makes the typeface hard to read and lose it's consistency

So I decided to solve both issues with my new typeface, giving the user the ability to choose exactly which letters should be changed and ensuring that all letters work well together.

The book 'Lettering & Type' by Bruce Willen and Nolen Strals helpedme a lot while creating my type face. It shows general rules andexamples for every letter, showing for example the width of a letter in comparisonto another or the difference in length of the arms of the E or where letters are usually tapered. There‘s also a lot of easy to understand information about terminology,different types like display or book typefaces and good and bad examples.

Tell us a little about yourself…

My name is Larissa, I'm 22 and in my 4thyear of studying Informations design at the Hochschule für Medien in Stuttgart, Germany. My last two semesters I spent at Griffith University in Brisbane as a Study Abroad student. This was an amazing experience, not only because of this great country but also because I had the freedom to choose whatever subjects interested me and I got the chance to experience a very creative and motivating learning atmosphere that taught me a lot and helped me rediscover my passion for design and for experimentation that leads to unexpected outcomes.

How and when did you become interested in studying design?

It sounds very cliché but I've always loved to draw and craft as a kid and I kept that interest throughout school where many subjects were just about repeating formulas and learning things by heart which I got bored of quickly. What I loved most was to hold a finished picture in my hands and to share it with others. Outside of school I was also interested in creating fanwork for my favorite movies and TV shows witch got me to experiment with digital painting and creating graphics in photoshop. From there on I knew that I wanted my future career to be creative and diverse but also meaningful. I wanted to move people with my creations while also making more than just 'pretty pictures'. Design was the perfect balance between creating something aesthetic and useful.

What about Type, calligraphy and/or Lettering specifically turns you on/excites or interests you?

It fascinates me how a word or sentence can get a completely different meaning and mood just by changing the typeface and what an impact even small differences can make. The choice of typeface can completely make or break a design.

Do you have a particular medium or tool for design that you gravitate toward or enjoying working with most?

While I do most of my work digitally, with the Adobe Suite, I also really love to get my hands dirty and experiment with different analogue mediums. But as a student it is often hard to afford those professional tools, especially if it's just for experimentation.

As we draw near to the completion of you Bachelor what are you next steps career wise? What does your dream job (or enterprise if you’re planning on creating your own business) look like?

This question is always hard for me to answer. As a student I have a lot of freedom and I get to try out many different subjects that won't always be completely relevant in my future career so it can be hard to focus and specialize in one topic. For now my goal is to graduate next year and find a graduate job in either the design/marketing department of a corporation or in a big design agency which will allow me to work on a variety of interesting and challenging projects.

I also really hope that I can use my career to see more of this world and maybe even come back to Australia and live here.